Petkovic receives Spanish Senate delegation

BELGRADE - The head of the Serbian government Office for Kosovo-Metohija Petar Petkovic met with a delegation of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the Spanish Senate in Belgrade on Thursday.

Petkovic especially warned of the dangerous consequences of potential implementation of Pristina's so-called laws on foreigners and vehicles, which he noted were aimed at expelling Serbs from Kosovo-Metohija and at directly attacking Serbian educational and health care institutions in the province.

Petkovic informed the delegation, headed by Committee Chair Pilar Rojo, of all of Pristina's unilateral and escalatory moves against the Serbs, the Office for Kosovo-Metohija said in a statement.

He noted that a recent raid by unidentified persons on the university rectorate building in Kosovska Mitrovica, as well as groundless and unfounded demands made by the group, represented alarming pressure and a serious threat to the university that was leading to an administrative ethnic cleansing and an abolition of the fundamental human rights of Kosovo-Metohija Serbs.

"Any inadequate reaction by the international community to unilateral moves by Pristina that would be implemented in spite of reached and valid agreements from Brussels, including the First Brussels Agreement on normalisation of relations as the umbrella document, will contribute to further destabilisation of the situation on the ground," Petkovic said.

For that reason, Belgrade is persistently requesting that the topic of the draft statute of a Community of Serb Municipalities be put on the negotiating table as it is a commitment undertaken by Pristina as many as 13 years ago and the only framework for finding a solution, he said.

Petkovic noted that Belgrade would continue to insist on the issue in a persistent manner.

He thanked Spain for its firm and consistent support for the territorial integrity and sovereignty of the Republic of Serbia, and noted that the Serbs were exceptionally appreciative of it.